The Ramifications of French Kissing
by danecross
Summary: Ok, bringing back Chloe is a generic fanfic move... But this is more about finding unexplored ways to cause Jackson mental anguish than to change Canon. Besides the show's writers made it so easy and this show deserves a few more fan fiction stories.
1. Chapter 1

The Ramifications of French Kissing

The incessant buzzing of the fluorescent lighting was comforting. Riding the drowsy sway of painkillers the sound could almost be mistaken for the morning chatter of insects hidden within the tall African grassland. The savanna's song indicated that no predators lurked. How did she know that? Had she read it in the safari brochure provided by the travel agent? A soft masculine voice she didn't recognize but felt compelled to trust surfaced in her half aware state. Chloe smiled, wondering how her fiancé would feel if he knew he didn't feature in her honeymoon fantasy just weeks before their wedding. Chloe sighed and let herself relax back into the clinically white linens of the bed. She rolled her eyes open, but nothing was in focus. Light filtered past shades of white, like a Richter masterpiece. Her pulse throbbed across her temple with an icy lack of pain. Nothing she couldn't deal with later she thought, giving herself license to drift back to sleep.

VVVVV

Doctor Robert Oz ignored the military escort flanking him and swept into the private hospital room. The ipad in his lab coat had kept him informed of his patient's charts in real time; notifying him of her earlier return to consciousness. Pulling a chair to her bedside he sat and took her delicate wrist. Life bloomed across her porcelain complexion, replacing the bloodless blues and purple tones from last week. Chloe woke and blinked at him without recognition. He watched her shiver of confusion get swept away by intelligence and command. Robert smiled, Miss Tousignant was an engaging creature, a promising clue to the man his son had become. "Good morning, Miss Tousignant. My name is Doctor Robert Oz." He frowned when she failed to react to his name. "How are you feeling today?" he redirected.

Chloe studied the silvered scruff of the Doctor's worn face. His bedside manner was polished but she was too good of a profiler to miss reading that he had expected her to know him. She looked away to smooth the bed sheet while she puzzled the most likely reasons for his reaction. "I was in an accident." She concluded, "Was anyone else hurt?" She looked up to catch his response.

"Do you remember what happened?" Robert countered, probing for effects of brain damage.

She must have hit her head, he was testing her memory, she realized. Something about the doctor's eyes felt familiar. Had they met before? She struggled to produce the answer he expected. The answer that would prove she was ok and speed her recovery time, but… nothing came. Quickly she ran through a series of Amnesia related questions. She knew her name (Chloe Tousignant) , her address (2056 Rue de Demound), her employer (analyst for the DSG), her schooling (graduated top of her class at the academy. Her parents were gone but she had a sister (Natalie) and a fiancé(Jean-Michel Lion)… none of the answers came up blank, yet she still felt like she was missing something vital. Slowly she admitted she couldn't recall how she had come to be in the hospital.

Dr Oz nodded and patted her hand. They were in uncharted medical territory. Chloe Tousignant's vitals had legally qualified as dead for virtually a week. Her body in cold storage awaiting shipment to her sister in France when Robert had learned the details around the disaster of the Noah's Ark TX-14 test. The TX-14 formula she had been exposed to hadn't been complete making her death unlikely. It hadn't taken much to have General Davies divert the body to his lab for a full blood panel and autopsy. As he suspected, Miss Tousignant was not dead, just in a deep state of chemical induced hibernation. The big surprise had been finding an emerging triple helix in her genetics. A triple helix with the same junk genomes earmarking the hasty serum he had injected into his son years ago. From there his mind spun. He could only conclude that Jackson's mutation had progressed to stage two, allowing him to infect another. Telling proof that Dr Oz was running out of time, he had to find Jackson. The lack of bites or recent scarring on Miss Tousignant indicated that fluids had been passed by some means other than a bite, possibly making Miss Tousignant the key to succeeding where General Davies had failed in gaining possession of Robert's son.

VVVVV

Chloe paced the small cell of her hospital room. She gave the locked door knob a vicious shake before turning to re-pace her steps. The loose hem of her hospital gown caught as she passed her bed. She jerked it free, cussing beautifully in her native French. Where was Jean-Michel? Where was Natalie? Why was her sleep plagued by vicious animal attacks? What weren't the doctors telling her? If she had to submit to another mute technician looking for blood samples she was going to seriously harm someone. What had seemed like private hospital accommodations had quickly become more likely a padded room.

Dr Robert Oz watched Chloe on the monitor in his lab. She moved with the dangerous grace of a caged predator. There was nothing physically wrong with her. The triple helix hadn't manifested any side effects, yet. Brain activity during REM proved that the memories she failed to recall were repressed rather than the cause of any internal damage. The door to her room opened and General Davies entered with a contingent of camouflage uniforms. Dr Oz reached over to turn up the audio.

"Miss Tousignant," Davies barked, tossing a stack of clothes onto the bed. "The DSG has loaned you to the American government." Davies waved his hand and his assistant held forward a stack of official documents. "During your assignment, our facility was compromised and you were exposed to a biologic weapon that seems to have left you missing the details of the last few months." Davies put his hands on his hips and gave Chloe an assessing look. "Your assignment is mission critical. Not to be overdramatic, but the world literally depends on it; which means we don't have the luxury to wait for your memory to return." Davies sighed and shifted into an "at ease" position. His voice dropped in resignment. "Dr Oz's medical opinion is that you are unfit to return to duty. I'm here to ask you to sign out AMA; to help me catch Jackson Oz, patient zero for the pandemic killing thousands of people every day."

Chloe blinked trying to assimilate and evaluate what the General had said. Americans had a tendency to be very single minded in their point of view. The documents in her hand appeared legitimate, but it was difficult to accept that she had lost details. Understanding people, situations, and motivations was what she was good at. How could she have lost something she specialized in. It made General Davies difficult to take at his word. But staying locked in this room wouldn't find her any answers, so she gave her agreement with a solemn nod. "Oz is an unusual surname, is there a relation?"

General Davies smiled. "Dr Robert Oz's **only** son. Makes signing out AMA a little easier doesn't it?"

VVVVV

A military aid dropped a sheet on her desk as he passed. She sent a look of disgust at his departing back. How was she supposed to do what they asked of her without access to any information other than what they chose to feed her? For that matter, how did they expect her to believe the story they fed her for why communication channels were down making it impossible to speak to her sister or fiancée. Why she could not leave the base, could not go anywhere without an armed escort, and why MRE's were the only readily available food in the mess hall. An animal rebellion? Seriously? A nuclear apocalypse, or a contagion with a silly name like bird flu, or even a meteoric extinction event sounded more plausible. But no, they stood there with a straight face and explained that all the animals of the world, from insect to grizzly bear had suddenly been able to understand each other, communicate telepathically and were working together to wip out humanity. Oh and don't forget the added detail that some of the animals had suddenly developed super skills causing earthquakes, blood rain, lightning strikes, flash freezes and the like. What had eventually made her stop to consider was a series of fairly recent scars. They told her she had been attacked by lions in Africa. Chloe couldn't recall having gone to Africa, but every night she bolted awake, drenched in sweat, with the echoes of lion roars in her head and a desperate need to find this man named Jackson.

She spent the dark hours of the night avoiding her nightmares by puzzling how she had come to be in Africa, the destination of her honeymoon without Jean-Michel. Something else that didn't add up was how the calendar could be two months past her scheduled wedding and her ring finger was bare. Where was her wedding ring? Where was the spectacular engagement ring Jean-Michel had produced after a champaign brunch au natural, served atop silken bed sheets? She stared at the form she had filled in triplicate requesting the current location and means to contact her sister. Such an exercise in futility! Where they trying to drive her crazy? "Miss Tousignant? Are you ready for your appointment?" her armed escort for the day asked. Chloe nodded and stood to make her way to Dr Oz's lab.

Robert Oz waved her to a seat without looking up from his microscope. The armed escort cleared the room than wandered away to flirt with a medical aid. The lab was familiar, Chloe had been visiting it every day since she had agreed to General Davies terms. Today was supposed to be a final check to clear her for field duty. However she didn't have high hopes that they would suddenly allow her autonomy to move around the base. Chloe studied the handwritten notes littering the counter. A badger hissed at her from his cage. The notes kept referring to different animals, different genomic indicators. General Davies walked into the room. He made a face at Chloe then begrudgingly asked Dr Oz for a word in private. Robert looked up from his sample and nodded. Chloe watched the pair step outside the door. As the door clicked shut, Chloe lunged for the computer. Typing quickly she managed to gain access to the internet. She attempted to access the DSG network but her account had been shut down. Quickly she accessed a private email platform and shot off a quick note to her sister and fiancée letting them know she was OK. She took a few moments to skim all the news about the animals. The internet seemed to confirm the unlikely story she was having difficulty believing. The sound of a hand on the door knob forced her to terminate the window and move away from the computer.

Dr Oz gave her an assessing look, glancing at the computer and back, but said nothing. General Davies watch the Dr grab a blood pressure cuff and moved to Chloe's side. "Any progress on calculating Jackson Oz's next location?" the General demanded. Chloe glared at him, "I would if you allowed me access to any form of useful information." It was an old argument. One that Davies had no patience for. With a scowl he turned and left the room. She turned to find Robert looking at her with a raised brow. "It makes no sense, but I believe he is headed to Africa," Chloe offered. Payment for the doctor's silence about the computer. "Any luck with the memories?" Robert asked. Chloe shook her head no.

Dr Oz sighed and turned to note Chloe's blood pressure on a chart. "It's not just about the science of finding a cure." He commented.

"I understand a father's love. But you should consider if there are alternatives who could work in his place," Chloe reasoned. "You aren't the only father facing the loss of a son."

"Jackson is special; worth saving." Dr Oz insisted. "If you could just remember…" Chloe looked him in the eye and he looked away. He picked up a needle and reached for the inside of her elbow.

Another blood sample Chloe wondered. Something wasn't right. "Is this really required?"

"Elizabeth," Dr Oz redirected. "His mother," He clarified, "She is in Africa. Perhaps Jackson is going to connect with her." Robert took Chloe's hand and pressed a slip of paper into her palm. "I will find my son." He declared. "I'm hoping you will see past General Davies to help me."

Chloe slipped the paper into her pocket for reading later. "I understand it is difficult to balance the people we love with the job we must do for the greater good." She didn't want to admit that she had her own unexplainable compulsion to find this man Jackson.

"Don't mistake the obvious for the truth." Robert countered, turning back to his research in dismissal.


	2. Chapter 2

Africa

The mutation had rendered Elizabeth Oz unrecognizable. The kind eyes were blank, the gentle hands where gnarled claws, the clinical tidiness stained by blood and seeping infection. The mother offering comfort and healing to all in need had been torn asunder. Pinned to the hard Botswana clay, the coppery smell of his own blood cloying the air; Abe stared up into the hollow eyes of death. He no longer recognized the woman who had embraced the role of surrogate mother. There was only predator and prey. He had finally come up too short on the food chain and nature demanded her tithe.

*BANG*

Abe reflexively blinked. The world skewed. Elizabeth Oz's bloody snarl eased as she collapsed sideways off Abe's chest. The tall grasses shuddered with a dry rattle. Once again mankind had muddled with the natural order. A soft keening pulled Abe's attention to Jackson. He watched with paralytic disbelief as the man he called brother struggled to keep his feet while the horror of the situation coiled tightly about him. With a groan, Abe shifted to rest trembling fingers against Elizabeth's pulse point. Her heartbeat had fled with the deep red seeping into the dust. Abe felt nothing. More witness than participant to the reality of the moment.

A muffled thump made Abe turn his head. Jackson had buckled beneath the weight of his actions; both fists twisting his hair in anguish; the shoulder strap of the tranq rifle tangling around his neck like a noose. Abe didn't know what to do. Jackson had just crossed a line that Abe, for all the darkness in his past, had balked at. When the militia had demanded Abe kill family or lose everything, Abe had refused. Both his brothers had been shot dead, but it hadn't been by his hand.

Jackson gasped, turning his eyes heavenward. Nothing could ever make amends for what he had just done. There was no road to salvation. No amount of denial could rationalize his actions. This was darker than the childish petulance that had set fire to his father's work to avert the animalistic crisis now gripping the world; blacker than encouraging his mother to abandon his father to a horrible descent into madness. More disturbing than being the underlying reason Chloe had tampered with the gas that had killed her.

He had put a bullet in his mother's chest. Essentially destroying the most personal, purest form of love and goodness that nature could create, a good mother; his good mother. Jackson could feel the infection in his system slithering through his veins; A physical manifestation of the corruption within. Nature demanded balance and the tar Jackson had begun coughing up from his lungs was evidence of her work to eliminate an abomination. The heat from the muzzle of his gun raised a welt across his thigh. He wrapped his fingers around it's bite and pulled it up to stare questioningly it's black depths. His touch burned everything to ash.

The sight of the gun turning in Jackson's direction finally punched through the vacuum surrounding Abe. With a grunt of denial Abe scrambled to move. He tackled Jackson back into the grass. Batting the gun from Jackson's hand and kicking it as far from them as possible. Jackson lay still but under Abe's weight, Abe could feel his brother's ribcage moving with labored breath. Wrapping his fingers around the nape of Jackson's neck he shifted to look directly into Jackson's glazed green eyes. "Rafiki," He mourned, the single word edged with disbelief and an undercurrent of denial.

VVVV

"Let's go Doc. We got orders to move out" Lieutenant Dembe announced as he and two privates entered Dr Oz's lab.

Robert took a deep breath, holding Chloe's gaze in silent communication. She raised her chin in answer. Patting her wrist Robert Oz stood. "Same time tomorrow?" he asked Chloe.

"Do I have a choice?" Chloe asked rolling down the sleeve of her borrowed camouflage.

Dr Oz smiled at her show of spirit. He was about to give a rejoiner when he noticed a private reaching for his packed bags. "No, no, no. Don't touch that." The bag growled and jerked. The private leapt back, all three pulling their guns. "Woah, no, no!" Robert yelled, scrambling to put himself between his armed escort and the animal concealed in his duffle.

"No way'm I getting in a hummer with an effing animal," squawked the private who had reached for the bag. "Effer nearly took my hand!"

Dembe glowered, "What's this?" he demanded

"A badger," Robert answered scooping the duffle into his arms. "He's sedated and necessary for my work." Seeing the lieutenant's unease Robert hurried to add, "It's cleared with Davies. Go ahead and check."

Lieutenant Dembe scowled weighing the option. General Davies was in a foul mood; calling in a confirmation would take half an hour easy. At the moment their route was confirmed animal free; Delta team had just come thru without even a sighting. 30 minutes would make the intel stale. He would rather deal with a sedated badger they knew about than a suprise attack out beyond the compound's walls. "Suck it up private. We got orders," Dembe decided.

Chloe chose to join the group leaving the lab; Hanging back to talk to the quiet private picking up the rear. "What sector are you headed to?" She asked. He looked at her with hooded eyes, unwilling to talk. "I just…," Chloe gave him an embarrassed look, "I don't get off the compound and I had friends out on the south side of town. I'm just wondering how bad it is out there." His eyes softened and he gave a slight negative shake of his head. Chloe let her head drop as if the news had hit her hard. The group made the outer hall and Chloe indicated this was her stop. She gave the private a sad smile and reached for his arm with gratitude. As he turned away she slipped his pistol from it's holster. Feeling the brush he turned a moment too late, staring in disbelief at the bushy red end of a tranquilizer dart sticking from his shoulder.

Before the man dropped, Chloe was moving. She grabbed the doctor by the back of his collar and spun him into the wall using his weight to counter balance a roundhouse to the lieutenant's neck. The flighty private dropped the baggage he was carrying to pull his rifle to bear. Chloe twisted again dragging Robert Oz stumbling back in front of her as a shield. The private hesitated, his orders being to protect Dr Oz. Lieutenant Dembe rolled at the private's feet making horrible gasping sounds in his struggle to draw breath through his crushed larynx. Dr Oz looked stunned; his nose bleeding from his collision with the wall. Blood dripped past his lip to stain the collar of his coat. Chloe motioned at the private. "Let's go," she ordered. Ushering the three of them out the door and into the waiting vehicle.

VVVV

"Stop here," Chloe demanded. The hummer skidded to a stop in the middle of the deserted road. The neighborhood looked like a war zone. Windows were blown out, belongings had been strewn across lawns. "Out," She commanded. The private gave her a panicked look. "It's only 5 blocks," she sneered. Trembling like a dead man, he stepped out from behind the driving wheel. Slipping into the spot, Chloe pulled the door closed and tossed a tranq gun a few feet away. Without a second look she lay on the gas and the Hummer sped away.

"Turn here," Robert instructed and Chloe complied. "I know I said make it look real, but I think you broke my nose." Robert complained. Chloe had agreed to help Doctor Robert Oz escape, but that didn't mean she trusted him. There was still too much she wasn't being told for that to happen. Besides, something about the man made her uneasy. Even when he talked about his son there was something evasive about his adoration. "Call it even for the needle tracks you left on my arm," she offered in commiseration.

Robert turned to look out the window. Chloe Tousignant didn't trust him despite all his effort to the contrary. She was far more cagey than even the shephards. He sighed with begrudging respect, wishing he could have met her when she still remembered Jackson. Ultimately, it didn't matter as long as she helped him accomplished his goal; as long as he got to his son. It was these quiet "in between" moments that were the worst; time when he wasn't distracted by something pressing. Where he couldn't stop himself from worrying what the side effects of the mutation were doing to his Jackson. Leaving General Davies and the Military had been a desperate move, but according to his calculations, Jackson didn't have much longer. The window to create and administer a cure with any hope of Jackson remaining recognizably human was quickly closing. Robert couldn't wait for the proper channels. The shephards had already sent him orders to abort his mission and return. They felt cureing the animals was secondary to their larger goal. Robert hoped to hell this worked while dreading the coming confrontation.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"I'm sorry Mitch," Ali said regretfully into Mitch's eyes. She was talking about more than their work to save the world, more than her past with his father. She was talking about herself, but the whole group was there as an audience and the Morgan family drama had aired enough for one day. So she moved to safer topics. "The Noah project is a go and there is no way we will find Pangea in time."

"We are not giving up," Jaime declared. The stubborn tenacity made Mitch almost smile. Instead his attention strayed to Jackson. The guy looked like the arms he wrapped tightly around himself, were the only thing keeping him from flying apart. His head was dropped, his focus internalized, his fingers tapped a silent staccato against his side. Sensing Mitch's attention, Jackson looked back from beneath heavy lashes. The green gaze looked more animal than human. It made Mitch question how much time Jackson had left. Mitch looked at Abe and saw a similar conclusion in the big man's tortured eyes. Mitch hadn't liked the safari guide at first, but then, Mitch didn't like anyone at first. Somehow Jackson had slipped behind Mitch's walls and become someone he cared about. Mitch cursed silently, he hated goodbye. "We don't stop." Mitch announced.

Jamie smiled triumphantly at Ali. With a few hours research she was sure she could pinpoint likely locations for Pangea. Ali rolled her eyes. "Could I speak to you in private?" Ali directed at Mitch. By mutual consent the group began to break off needing a break before returning to tackle yet another impossible task.

VVVV

Abe followed Jackson down the steps into the large lab in the belly of the plane. It felt oddly disturbing without the muffled vibration of the huge turbine jet engines signifying that they were safely in the air moving toward their next destination, another step towards the cure.

Jackson swung around to face Abe. "We could find it!" There was a feverish quality to his conviction. A light sheen of sweat reflected the fluorescents and caused the ends of his hair to curl out in tufts. Abe's stared at him with an alarming blankness. Crap, was he jumping too far to conclusions without explaining himself. His father used to do that when the madness had taken him; voicing wild non-sequitors without leaving breadcrumbs for others to follow the logic of each jump. "I'm talking about Pangea." Jackson backtracked. "Ali says that type of money can hide. But… The money itself is too hard to hide. Chloe would have…" Jackson fell silent realizing where he had been headed with the thought. He shied away from the pain of her loss still waiting to consume him if he ventured to close. They didn't have time for that. Jackson realized he was breathing too quickly, he dropped his head to slow himself, focusing on the scuffed leather of his boots as a centering technique.

"I did it," Abe gasped, fighting mightily against the urge to remain silent. Courageous self-sacrifice was Jackson's strength, not his. He preferred to ignore or power through difficulty. If General Davies hadn't backed Abe into a corner, if he didn't feel like this was the only opening through such treacherous ground, Abe would have continued to keep this secret buried. But he could feel Elizabeth Oz's corpse, like a tell-tale heart whispering to him from cool storage. He knew Jackson too well not to recognize his brother unravelling without a tether. But Abe couldn't do it, couldn't be that. Unwittingly betraying a woman, a mother he would come to care for was horrible, but it was a darkness that his past had left him experienced in handling. Withholding the information that Jackson's father was alive so Abe wouldn't have to risk his relationship with the man he loved as a brother… somehow that was worse. Something he could not do.

"You did what?" Jackson asked, trying to still his own thoughts to understand what his best friend was telling him. He bounced on his toes, a nervous tick he didn't notice.

"I did it," Abe repeated; his eyes begging Jackson not to make him repeat the words again. "I gave Elizabeth the injection."

"You did…" Jackson broke off in a breathy laugh of disbelief. His head spun waiting for the punchline, waiting for a tell that the joke was on him. The moment hung; his mind revved looking for an alternative before engaging that this was for real.

Abe reached for him but Jackson stumbled back. Abe felt like he was watching another brother die beneath his inability to act. "Robert Oz paid me $200 dollars," Abe explained but it held little comfort even to Abe's ears. Jackson shuddered. "It was before I knew her. Before I met you,"Abe continued, feeling completely lost.

"She was all I had left!" Jackson roared back; lashing out to silence the words. Sinking beneath the weight that this meant Jackson had chosen incorrectly when he had shot his mother to save Abe.

"No, Rafiki," Abe cried.

Jackson's eyes went wide, the pupils suddenly isolated in white. "Are you…" he struggled to vocalize the internal eruption sending tremors through his frame. "I hope you aren't referring to yourself!" Jackson choked out with disbelief.

The look on Jackson's face told Abe exactly where he now stood with his best friend. Abe dropped his eyes in shame. He shook his head no. "Your father is alive."

"My father died 2 years ago!" Jackson countered. He felt something inside shift uncomfortable. Abe had been the one to pull Jackson out of the alcoholic sea that news had left him drowning in. The world felt like it had gone insane. Jackson's instinct was to look to Abe for strength, but Abe wouldn't meet his eye. His mother hadn't threatened him only Abe… For Abe he had… Jackson's fists clenched.

"Your father is alive and working with General Davies," Abe's deep voice rumbled.

A icy fission cut across Jackson's rage. The black of his pupil boiled over, dripping double lines across the field of his iris; forming a defiant pupil. Abe noticed a shift in the air and glanced at his best friend from the corner of his eye. Something deep in Jackson's chest broke loose, emitting an almost subsonic growl. Abe stepped back flashing back to that moment when he had turned to find himself cornered on the safari bus by a lion twice his weight. Jackson moved impossibly fast, sending Abe sailing into a wall of lab equipment. Rage sunk it's canines into the flesh of his brain and savaged it off it's axis. Logic was lost, the shapes around him lost meaning. He followed the smell of blood. Attacking movement with mindless prejudice. The feel of muscle bruising beneath his fists made his pulse sing; a primitive balm to the unrelenting pain in his head.

Abe had no chance. He fought to get his hands up, he strained to catch a breath between the blows, his strength failed beneath the onslaught. Jackson tumbled him like a surfer caught in the frothing undertow, unable to identify up from down, getting thrown left and right against the hard surfaces of the lab.

BANG

Pain threw Jackson sideways, stumbling over an overturned chair and crashing into the ridged panels of the floor. He closed his eyes and panted into the cool metal of the plane. He clutched desperately to the burning incapacitating his shoulder. He rolled, pushing his damaged shoulder into the floor to keep the pain from fading; using it to drive back the blind rage. Slowly he counted down from twenty. Using the pain as a focus while running through an exercise the psychologists had taught he and his mother to help his father relax. The soft noise of plastic containers bumping together made him open his eyes.

A few feet away Dariella knelt beside an overturned shelving unit. Jackson shifted, bringing his shaking hand up to press into his temple; trying to dig at the buzzing beating to get back into his head. The movement sent Dariella jumping back, her gun drawn. Jackson recognized the color on his hands first. Then the dark form at Dariella's feet. Blood, Abe. Jackson exploded off the floor slamming backward until the bars of the lab's cage connected with his back. The muzzle of Dariella's pistol tracked him. He struggled to hold himself still so she could fulfill her promise. Abe's low groan stopped her trigger finger. She glanced at the big man she had returned for. To hell with Jackson, she thought. She needed Abe now more than ever, she couldn't risk the relationship by shooting his best friend.

"NO!" Jackson hissed, seeing the regret in her eyes. Another betrayal! Dammit, when would he stop learn? It was his problem, he was going to have to solving it on his own. The howling in his head began to crescendo again. He couldn't stay and risk hurting these people, so he turned and ran. Much too late Mitch, Jamie, and Ali came running in response to the gunshot. Dariella pointed at the car bay setting them on Jackson's trail.

Mitch returned with a look of shocked disbelief. He stared blankly at Abe who had managed with Dariella's help to get up off the floor, "He's gone," Mitch announced.

VVVV

Chloe paced the cold run down store room. Hours ago, Robert Oz had taken the Subaru she had lifted and sped off without any promises. She didn't trust the man, but at least he had given her direction, purpose, something specific to work on. She turned back to the high set grease fogged window to study the falling light play across the street. She pulled a smart phone, lifted from the doctor's lab assistant, from her pocket and made another attempt at the unlocking sequence. The phone vibrated it's rejection and timed her out for another 25 seconds. "Tre bon," she grumbled. She slipped the phone back into her pocket. The wind howled around the corrugated metal of the rolling door of the loading bay. Sections of plastic sheeting rustled, trapped beneath the weight of loaded shipping pallets. Something in the back ticked against the barricaded maintenance door.

Chloe clutched her tranq gun close. She inferred by all the questions surrounding her missing memories that she had experienced the animal's abnormal aggression. But she didn't actually remember any of it. Her dreams left her with images of people and places she couldn't name. She shivered in the cold air. The heavy fabric of the American Military BDU's didn't make up for the dropping temperatures of night. Chloe sighed, wondering how long she should wait to see if Dr Oz returned. Two grey duffels full of his cryptic hand scrawled notes were the only indication that he might. Chloe supposed it didn't matter since travelling alone on foot at night might not be the smartest action when the animal kingdom was out to get you.

She didn't have the right paranoia to notice the little black headed titmouse watching her from the broken window pane of a closed up gas station. Her first clue that something was wrong came when a trio of large spotted heifers and a calf sauntered around the corner to start grazing the shriveled weeds coming up thru the cracks in the sidewalk. Quietly, Chloe retreated from the window. She moved silently through racks of abandoned automotive parts to check the back of the building completely unaware of the feline shadow tracking her from the rafters.

Chloe double checked the security of the rusted maintenance door. A red tool cabinet had been toppled against the portal as a brace. She tip toed past a field of stray lug bolts to peer through the torn screen of a blown out window. The back alley was crawling with cockroaches. Chloe slapped her palm across her mouth to keep the yelp of disgust from surfacing. Chloe whirled as a deafening slam against the car port popped and bent the metal. Lethal horns tore gouges as the door was pounded again and again; screeching horribly beneath a bullish battering ram. Frantically, Chloe searched the shop equipment looking for inspiration.

Grabbing what looked like an old acetylene torch she failed to notice a large shadow drop down the wall behind her, but the velvet paws set a bolt rolling. Whirling, Chloe dodged, then blocked the mountain lion's claws with the metal canister of the torch. The big cat hissed, baring huge yellowed canines. The tawny muscles bunched, it's golden eyes promised death. It was a demon conjured from her nightmares. Chloe froze. Her chest refused to pull air, her legs refused to stumble backward. The cat crouched low and slunk forward. Suddenly the car port burst inward crying beneath the hulking strength of a black bull. The beast gave an ear piercing trumpet that shook Chloe loose. The cat dodged her shot. Chloe swung the torch at the cat and dove for a dusty old Volvo set up on blocks.

Diving through the open window she landed painfully across the central console. A set of lethal claws sunk into the sole of her boot dragging her back. Twisting she got a second shot at the cat as it came through the window after her. The huge muzzle hissed as the dart hit; causing the cat to falter and free her boot. It's huge claws caught in the plastic interior, holding it suspended in the window. Chloe used the butt of the tranq rifle to defend herself; Scrambling back against the opposite door. She felt blindly for the release latch when the cab of the vehicle was suddenly jacked into the air, landing askew against protesting shocks. Catching the door handle to keep from being thrown into the mountain lion, the door suddenly gave; dumping Chloe in a crush against the cracked cement of the floor.

Before she could react, The bull snorted and the car gave another heave. Shoving her backward, pinching her between the floor and the door frame. With a ripping sound the cat clawed it's way further into the cab. The bull slammed the Volvo again sending the cat tumbling into the back seat as the volvo's axel crumpled. The cab of the vehicle slammed into a wall of shelving. The force impaled her shoulder against a rebar strut. Chloe tried to move and gasped in pain. She shifted but the fabric of her jacket was caught beneath the metal lip of the car frame. Suddenly a huge paw whipped out from between the seat and door frame. Chloe cried out and flinched as the hooked nails sailed past her, shredding her heavy canvas jacket. A dark shadow passed over her, landing with a thump on the hood of the car.

Jackson slid soundless from the Volvo's crumpled hood to confront the bull, his outstretched hand ready to dodge or deflect based on the animal's reaction. The bull swung it's horns in his direction. It's dark eyes glaring from beneath a heavy brow. It's flared nostril testing the air. Jackson saw a flash of red as the huge beast huffed. "Easy," Jackson purred. The bull flinched. It jerked it's head into the air, white suddenly edging it's ebony eye. It chuffed the air in alarm, panic quivering down it's bulk. It's broad nose stuttered in alarm at Jackson's scent. With a panicked trumpet it scrambled back. The muscles in it's shoulders and neck bunched as it suddenly pivoted searching for an exit strategy. It's defiant pupil gauged the risk of dashing around the infection it smelled or creating an alternative exit.

Another soft cry from the interior of the car pulled Jackson's attention. Pinned by his gauze, the mountain lion screamed at him, the heavy scent of urine marking it's terror. Jackson realized the danger. The animal's fear of him would send it tearing thru the person trapped in the car. Jackson dove and rolled back across the Volvo's hood with startling speed. He hit the far edge just as the bull charged. The beast lashed out to cover it's flight, sending the Volvo spinning. With the speed of a snake strike, Jackson grabbed the figure in the car and hauled her clear as the metal body shrieked in a hail of sparks across the floor. The Volvo's trunk caught the back of his legs in it's arc sending both humans into a heap against the frigid floor. With another shriek, the mountain lion darted past hot on the bull's heels. Instinctively, Jackson curled around the smaller form as the feline shadow passed.

Silence was left. Jackson shifted onto his elbow, unable to hear anything over his labored breath and the pounding adrenaline in his head. The lion and bull were both gone. Chloe blinked, unsure how she was alive, completely numb to everything but the warm body beside her. Her ears buzzed, muffling sound like blown out speakers. Jackson pulled the camo printed shoulder beside him around to check the other person and was met with huge cornflower blue eyes. "Chloe," was Jackson's first thought. He clenched his eyes shut and rolled away onto his back. "Hallucination," Jackson corrected, digging his fingers into his temples. Something in his chest shifted, a thick black oily substance bubbled up from his lungs. Jackson curled in on himself hacking and coughing, desperate to clear the substance to get oxygen.

Chloe had no will to resist the hand on her shoulder and found herself suddenly eye to eye with Jackson Oz. She couldn't recall having met him before, but there was no question in her head that she had. There was a flicker of recognition that he seemed to swallow before rolling away. She lay stunned beneath the weight of suppressed memories until the first bark of his coughing fit. She reached for Jackson but suddenly Robert was there, on his knees, separating them.

Dr Robert Oz pinned Jackson's shoulder beneath his knee and pushed his son's face to the side, roughly pulling Jackson's eyelid wide. He got a good glimpse of the defiant pupil before Jackson knocked his hands away. Something dark traced the vein beneath the tanned skin of Jackson's jaw setting Dr Oz back in surprise. The infection had advanced beyond the doctor's expectation. He glanced at his son with fear, his clinical mind racing.

Jackson used his sleeve to clean the black from his lower lip. He stared at the stain it left as his chest recovered. He felt hot, restless. Something undefinable sizzled just below his skin. The infection amplified everything around him; the sharp smell of his father's fear; the tittering of a host of insects just beyond the back walls of the warehouse. Echoing heart beats that sounded like the drums of war. The sounds, the evidence of life offended something deep within him. It left his head frothing with rage unable to maintain a continuity of thought. But the metal slug in his shoulder dug at him with every movement. The pain was clear, tangible. Something undeniable that tied him to the reality of the moment, it grounded him. His father grabbed at him but Jackson held him at bay. His eyes moved past Dr Oz to settle on Chloe. Crap, she was still there. He was losing it.

Chloe shifted closer. "Jackson?"

The sound of her accented voice made Jackson bolt like he'd been scalded. He collided with the far wall, his breath hitching with a high pitched hiccup, like the eerie laughing bark of a hyena. "You're dead," he said with wide panicked eyes. Dr Oz hurried to him; bracing his son with his grip. "Jackson," he commanded. Jackson gave his attention with that breathy, sick laugh. Jackson's eyes seemed to glow with unease. "I see…," he huffed with unhinged mirth, "dead people." Jackson dropped his head and muttered to himself, "I see dead… people… I see…" Robert shifted to pin his son's shoulders back against the wall. The bullet would pinched, breaking Jackson from his loop. Jackson met his father's eye, "I'm sorry." The leap of logic obvious to Robert Oz; the despair reflected in his son's eyes; eyes the same shade and angle as Elizabeth's. Jackson was making a connection between the current fractured state of his mind and his act to abandon a father struggling with mental stability. Robert couldn't take it. His palm cracked against the side of Jackson's face to stop the confession. In the stunned silence, Dr Oz pulled a hypodermic needle from his jacket. Shoving Jackson harder into the wall, Robert spiked the needle into Jackson's neck. Jackson's reaction was instinctual. Defense, his fist caught the doctor's glass jaw and Dr Oz crumpled. Jackson flung the needle away with a shudder, shades of his father using a farewell hug to cover the injection that had passed the ghost gene. Jackson slid down the wall to his heels, tears silently sliding from his eyes.

Chloe didn't know what to make of the unmoving form that was Dr Oz or the trembling form of the son collapsed beside him. All she could think was that by all logical standards, Jackson was right, she should be dead, again. Somehow, she was alive because of him. She still couldn't remember the details of the first "save" but her instincts lead her to believe it. Jackson was very clearly "not" alright, but she couldn't leave him. Instead she moved closer. He flinched and she marveled how he could be so scattered and yet laser focused at the same time. She crouched beside him. "What do I do?" he whispered. She reached out, her fingers smoothing back a soft curl tufting out from his forehead.

Jackson shifted forward into a kiss so natural it started before either of them realized. His warm strength made Chloe feel like everything would be alright. It gave her confidence. Made her feel like she had all the answers; it made her want to clutch him to her breast and never let go. It wasn't anything like the high pitched electric excitement of Jean-Michel's clever tongue. She pulled back at the thought and Jackson made no move to stop her. He still suspected he was hallucinating. And honestly, he wasn't completely in control. "I'm sick," he confessed. Chloe nodded and worried her bottom lip in thought. "Take your father to your friends," She counselled. "What about you?" Jackson asked. She hesitated, her gut said letting him go was a mistake; but there were too many questions and she couldn't pass this opportunity to pursue answers. She shook her head no and he accepted that without question.

When they stepped outside, night had fallen. Chloe loaded Dr Oz's remaining duffle bags as Jackson folded his father into the back. Chloe watched him. Her presence seemed to calm him, but something about the way he looked at her made her think he doubted she was real. He took her to a full car lot. She was tempted to kiss him goodbye but he kept his distance. She took the two duffle bags that didn't conceal a hissing animal and he helped her jump the car to life. She grabbed his hand as he turned to leave. His rough palm felt right between her fingers. "I'll find you again," she promised. Jackson gave her a soft smile and nodded. Back to reality, he thought darkly; turning the wheel back towards the runway and the plane full of living people he had tried to leave for their own benefit.

VVVV

Thoughts? Technically, this leaves us back in canon when Jackson returns to the plane with his unconscious father in the back of the car. Should it progress into true AU at this point? Wouldn't it be interesting if Chloe was working with grown up Clem and the source of the intel that Mitch is alive? Well, you tell me. It's hard to gauge interest with such soft spoken fans.


End file.
